


It shifts and cracks

by BrilliantlyHorrid



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Asshole Corpse Ward, Drama with fluff, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Maveth - Freeform, Phil Coulson's sad eyes, Skoulson Romfest 2k16, Wardddd prompt, Whatever it takes, if that wasn't obvious, not Grant Ward friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 07:02:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5776123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrilliantlyHorrid/pseuds/BrilliantlyHorrid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daisy frowned. “He has no reason to feel guilty,” she argued. “There’s an ancient inhuman going around killing people in Grant Ward’s body. There’s basically a neon arrow pointing at him saying, ‘Daisy! Kill me!’”</p><p>Bobbi shrugged. “I hope he gives you a chance to tell him that."</p><p> </p><p>Skoulson RomFest 2k16: Day 3 - Whatever it takes, Ward</p>
            </blockquote>





	It shifts and cracks

Once her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room, the dread that had been creeping over her since she walked into the building began to make sense. The vibrations she was getting--apart from the faint but familiar ones Coulson was giving off--were _disturbing_ , in a way she hadn’t encountered before. Rather than a pleasant hum, or the occasional irritating buzz, it was just... _wrong_. It made her skin crawl.

“Well that makes sense,” she muttered, as the corpse formerly known as Grant Ward turned around. He watched her curiously, while she glanced down at Coulson. “You okay?” She asked, noting he looked a little worse for the wear.

Leaning back against the wall, Coulson looked over at her. “Daisy,” he called, sounding out of breath.

As far as she could tell, he wasn’t too seriously hurt. But the fear in his eyes made her nervous. They almost hadn’t believed it, the first time they caught Ward’s body on security footage. (In a museum of all places. Daisy would have made a mummy joke, but the mood of abject terror and disgust didn’t really call for it.)

“ _No_.”

Ward-- _Maveth’s_ voice made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It was a labored whisper, raspy, like it was being pushed out of his lungs and catching on every obstruction on the way up. He stepped closer, and Daisy tried not to gag at the smell.

He tilted his head, a slow smile forming on his gray face. “No, I know _you_ ,” he said, shaking his head. He stepped closer still and Daisy felt rooted to the ground. The impulse to flee was strong, but she couldn’t tell if she was being held there by some external force or her need to take Coulson back with her. How could he go after Ward himself? Again? Knowing what was inside of him?

_Like you wouldn’t have done the same thing if you figured it out first._

“ _Skye_ ,” he said, and Daisy never heard her name sound so much like a hiss. He lifted a hand, tapping the index finger against his temple. In the corner of her eye, she could see Coulson trying to pull himself up. He wasn’t getting very far.

“Not anymore,” Daisy said, straightening her spine. “Sorry, your intel is a little behind. The douchebag you’re inhabiting never got the memo before he croaked.” She shrugged, in an attempt to both look casual and at least physically loosen up from her tense and mildly terrified state.

The creature swiveled his head, slightly disjointed, to look back at Coulson, who had slumped back against the wall. “What, you didn’t tell him?” He asked. “It’s the least you could do.” He turned back to look at Daisy. “There’s a lot of you up here,” he said, pointing to his head again. He took on a look of mock tenderness, an imitation of human emotion. “And here,” he said, moving to place a hand on his chest. The creature jumped slightly, pretending to be startled when his hand hit empty space, resting in the dip where his sternum had caved in. “Oops.” He shrugged stiffly. “It’s deeper than I thought. You see, it’s much easier to crush someone’s chest when they’re lying down. Helpless,” he added, looking back at Coulson.

Not liking the way he was looking at Phil, who was pretty helpless himself, Daisy called his attention back to her. “He killed Ward, but he’s not why you’re here. You’ve got the brains of what, a couple hundred people in there? Why bother harboring the grudge of one of them?” She shook her head. “Seems kind of small-minded to me.”

“You’d think,” he agreed, “but this one’s got so much... _feeling_ in him, it’s distracting. You, for instance,” he said, stepping even closer. Daisy swallowed heavily, able to see every divot and sag of his skin. The stench was overwhelming. He lifted a hand to her face, and she could see the gray, bloodless skin on his knuckles. “I can’t tell if I want to _kill_ you, or--”

A loud _crack_ echoed through the room as he hit the opposite wall. Daisy lowered her arm, squeezing her hands into fists to prevent them from shaking. Unsurprisingly Maveth stood, his body shifting grotesquely, probably with a few more broken bones. He wiped under his mouth, a reflex. There was no blood to cough up.

“So,” he sighed, a dangerous _familiar_ glare on his face. “We’re going with the former.”

***

“Where do you think you’re going?” Bobbi asked, and Daisy cringed, lying back again.

“Nowhere, clearly,” she muttered, looking up at the ceiling.

“That’s what I thought,” the other woman said, walking over to her bed. “Simmons says to give you this,” she said, handing her a glass of water and what she assumed were some awesome painkillers. “And _not_ to give you this, but I’m doing it anyway because you seem like you need it.” She smirked, handing Daisy a can of Cactus Cooler.

“What does Simmons have against artificial sweeteners?” Daisy asked, taking the can from her gratefully. “Thanks.”

Bobbi just smiled, looking around the room. “How are you feeling?”

Daisy sighed. “Bored, mostly. And, you know. Achy.” The sprained knee was definitely not the most painful injury she’d gotten in her life--not even the worst she’d gotten in that fight-- but it was definitely the most irritating. Even when she broke her arms she could at least walk around. She would have insisted on being allowed to walk with crutches or a walker if everyone wasn’t so worried she would fall on her face and make it worse.

(Which, given how much energy she exerted with her powers _that_ day, Daisy supposed it was a fair point.)

“Has he come by yet?” Bobbi asked cautiously, looking toward the door.

“If you count standing in the hall with sad beagle eyes while he thinks I’m asleep,” Daisy answered, and Bobbi nodded. “I would’ve let the cat out the bag and invited him in, but it was the most I’ve seen him since we got back so I figured he might flee.”

“He’ll get there,” Bobbi said, patting her on the shoulder. “Hunter basically fluctuated between not leaving my bedside to avoiding me like the plague after,” she gestured to her chest, where Ward’s bullet went through. “I think it’s a guilt thing.”

Daisy frowned. “He has no reason to feel guilty,” she argued. “There’s an ancient _inhuman_ going around killing people in _Grant Ward’s body._ There’s basically a neon arrow pointing at him saying, ‘Daisy! Kill me!’”

Bobbi shrugged. “I hope he gives you a chance to tell him that,” she said, peering over at the clock. “Those happy pills should be taking effect soon, so I’m going to let you get some sleep.”

“What?” Daisy asked, furrowing her brow. “I feel fff---yeah no I see what you mean,” she said, snuggling back into her pillows.

***

The next morning, Simmons officially declared Daisy fit to walk. Well, fit to carefully get out of bed, _with assistance_ , putting as little weight as physically possible on the leg while getting a moderate amount of non-strenuous exercise for a predetermined period of time not exceeding twenty minutes.

After checking on her other cuts and bruises and changing her bandages, Jemma let her know that she would be back for said light exercise around noon, so Daisy was very surprised to see Coulson come in when the clock struck twelve.

“Hey there,” she said, pushing herself upright. “Long time no see.” The face Coulson sent her was slightly guilty, but not nearly as bad as he was when she’d seen him the other night. _Probably because this time he knows you’re watching_. Keeping himself in check, that was the Phil Coulson she knew.

_Sometimes._

“Simmons told me she wants you stretching your legs, and that you need assistance,” he explained, ever the professional.

Daisy raised an eyebrow. “And that assistance is going to be you?” Coulson looked self-conscious then, so she shook her head. “No, I mean, I’m happy. Well, I’m not mad about it. You’re...sounds like a plan, let’s go,” she said quickly, carefully turning so she could lower her legs off the side of the bed.

Phil reached over, letting her hold onto his arms so she could stand. “How are you holding up?” He asked, and Daisy groaned pathetically. Her dramatics seemed to pay off, because she could see the faintest sign of a smile on Coulson’s face. “Sorry,” he said.

“The perils of hurting an entitled dude’s feelings,” Daisy said, wincing as Coulson helped her out of bed. “I should have guessed a few centuries worth of them wouldn’t be a picnic.”

She could tell Phil was conflicted: on the one hand, she was being flippant and he felt bad and probably wanted to leave. On the other, he was currently supporting most of her body weight while helping her over to the walker.

Yes, she had trapped him.

They didn’t talk for a bit while she carefully moved out of the room, Coulson sticking close to her side in case she slipped or needed help. They walked down the halls of the Playground, and Daisy was glad it had fallen on a Sunday when the place was a lot quieter.

“We’ll get him,” Coulson said eventually, and she couldn’t help but scoff.

“Yeah, we always say that don’t we?” It came out more bitter than she had intended, and Daisy felt Coulson freeze next to her. She winced, stopping in place. “Wow. I’m sorry, that was not helpful,” she said. “That’s not-- I’m just...he got away again.” _Because of me._ “And yeah, he’s not technically Ward, but he’s got his brain, which is bad enough.”

She bit the inside of her cheek, thinking of the taunts the creature had thrown at both her and Coulson as she fought him. Personal digs, some thrown in Coulson’s direction she didn’t understand, but others that hit her right at the core.

Ward didn’t know her at all. Whether he realized it or not, he often seemed to think the worst of her even when he was trying to appeal to her. He couldn't _really_ hurt her, not on a deeper level. But Maveth knew every thought in his head. Had seen and heard everything she had said to him through Ward’s eyes, with his thoughts. But it was smarter than Ward. It knew what pieces to use to cause the most damage. It wasn’t held back by any of Ward’s delusions.

They started walking again.

“We’ll be ready next time,” Coulson said, and she could tell the words were empty. But he was _trying_. “We’ll do our research. We'll do whatever it takes...We'll wait, and we won’t go after him alone.”  

“No one blames you for what you did,” Daisy said, glancing at him from her corner of her eye. “Any of it.”

“I do,” he said, and she could see the tightness in his jaw. Had he been this tense the whole week? No wonder he looked exhausted.

“Well that’s stupid,” she said, and Coulson stopped walking again. “Oh come on,” Daisy muttered. Slowly turning the walker to face him. “You thought you failed, that you didn’t finish the job the first time, _and_ that because he got through, it was your responsibility.”

Coulson stared at her defiantly, like he was trying to form a rebuttal, but knew she was on the mark. “Well, he’s all of our responsibility. We all, in some way, contributed to this happening.”

“I was afraid.”

Daisy looked at him curiously.

“Of what he would say. To you. To all of you,” he elaborated, and Daisy had a feeling she knew what he was talking about. “That’s why I went alone.”

The ancient Inhuman may have been smart enough to use Ward against them, to make Coulson fear their judgement or rejection or even horror at his actions. But it couldn’t be that smart if it thought that Daisy would ever consider Grant Ward “ _helpless_.”

Putting weight on her good leg, Daisy placed a hand on Coulson’s arm. She stretched up toward him, somewhat relying on the fact that Coulson would _definitely_ focus on keeping her upright before questioning what she was doing, and kissed him on the side of the mouth.

Keeping a hand on his cheek, liking the surprised look in his big blue eyes, Daisy looked at him seriously. “Phil. I think it is safe to say that at this point, nothing anyone says about you is going to scare me away.”

Clearly caught between wondering what just happened and wanting to argue with what she just said, Coulson struggled for words.

“ _Particularly_ ,” Daisy interrupted, placing a finger over his lips. “Not Ward. Or any creepy undead version of him filled with the enlightening points of view of hundreds of rich old white dudes.” Phil tried to talk again. “Shhhh.” She scolded him. “No arguing with the injured party.” Coulson’s lips turned down at the sides, and he looked so much like Grumpy Cat Daisy kind of wished she could take a photo.

Coulson waited, staring at her expectantly until she was satisfied with what she saw. She removed her hand. “Can I at least ask,” Coulson began cautiously, and she could feel his fingers thrum nervously at her sides where he was supporting her. “What... _that_ was?”

Daisy widened her eyes innocently. “What do you mean?” He gave her a warning look, and she sighed, exasperated. “I don’t know, emphasis? You know, as to _why_ I’m not going to let anyone take you away from me.”

Phil’s eyebrows shot up. “ _Take me away from you?"_

“You know what I mean.”

“I really don’t.”

Daisy made a growling noise. “Look,” she said, grabbing his face with both hands this time, basically throwing all of her weight--and maybe her life, she really had no balance-- in his hands. She pressed her lips to his fiercely, trying to convey everything she felt in the one gesture. After he tentatively began to kiss back, she pulled away. “That means that as long as you’re _you_ , the Coulson I know who will punish himself worse than I ever could--probably over things that don’t even matter--it doesn’t matter what you do. I will always be on your side when it counts. Got it?”

Phil stared at her questioningly, but she could feel his grip at her waist become more confident. “So whenever someone says something bad about me, you’re going to kiss me.”

Daisy tilted her head. “Basically, yeah. And you know, any other times I feel like you may need it. If you want.” She could see a smile begin to form on his face, much to her relief.

“I think I’d like that,” he said, and she rolled her eyes.

“Excellent. Now can we get back to my room because I’m pretty sure we’re going to hit the time limit soon and Dr. Simmons is going to come chasing after me. And we both know I can’t outrun her right now.”

Coulson smiled benevolently, supporting her while she moved back to the walker. “I never thanked you,” he said, placing a hand on the walker before she could move again. “For coming after me.” Phil leaned in, pressing a feather-light kiss to her lips and lingering there in a way that somehow felt more intimate than any of her hardcore makeouts ever had. Like he was simply trying to breathe the air from her lungs.

Gathering herself as he pulled away, Daisy raised her eyebrows. “So every time I come rescue you, you’re going to kiss me?”

Phil shrugged, looking pleased with himself. “And any other times I feel like you need it.”

“ _Good_ ,” Daisy said emphatically eyes wide. Coulson laughed. Clearing her throat she began to push forward, and the two continued their walk down the hall. It was quiet once again, but a comfortable silence between them.

As they neared the medical wing, Hunter and Mack turned a corner ahead of them. They both look pleased to see them, though Mack’s expression was definitely kinder than whatever had Hunter grinning.

“Tremors, good to see you up,” Mack said, and Daisy adjusted her weight so they could (lightly) pound it.

“Partner.”

“Yes, glad to see you two out for a stroll,” Hunter drawled, and Daisy liked to think he too was genuinely happy she was well. “You know, this,” he said, gesturing between her and Coulson and the walker, “is sort of the reverse of what I imagined happening. In the future. Near future, maybe. No offense Sir.”

Daisy frowned, wishing her abilities weren’t on ‘preserve power mode.’ Just to knock him around a little bit. “Screw you, Hunter.”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you, you old flirt.”

“Mack, Hunter,” Coulson said, pressing a hand lightly to Daisy’s back and ending the conversation.

Mack rolled his eyes before giving Daisy a look and pulling Hunter along.

After they turned the corner, Coulson hummed thoughtfully. “You know, what Hunter said about me was pretty rude." He sent her a challenging look. "Are you going to do something about it?"

Looking ahead, Daisy smiled.


End file.
